During some recent "equality and diversity" training, I learned that it is increasingly common for Muslim employees in the UK to object to working with or assisting blind people who use guide dogs -- dogs being traditionally considered unclean in Islam. Although our teacher didn't say it in so many words, this is an excellent example of why a blanket policy of "religious tolerance" can never work: Sometimes there is no way to respect one person's beliefs without interfering with another person's rights. I'm happy to say that British law is firmly on the side of the blind in these cases.
One of my first reactions to hearing about this (besides an odd fantasy about Christopher Hitchens being a member of our training group) was to wonder how blind Muslims cope with such a prohibition. It turns out that just a couple of days ago, The Age ran a story about two blind Muslim women who have defied the taboo and welcomed canine helpers while keeping their faith intact. I hope many more blind Muslims will find new freedom by following their example.
2 comments:
This is unbelievable that nations are even having these "trainings." And that we should be grateful that our governments are on the side of the blind. Or that we are forced to to "respect" a religion's rights simply because it is their religion, no matter how incompatible or confrontational it is with our lives. Muslim countries would never respect our beliefs. This is so disturbing.
As Debra said, it is disturbing. Thank you for this post. "Unclean" -- a dog. Not so. Our dog, Yeller, warned me of a Diamondback Rattler just last week on the front porch that could have bitten us in the hedges. I'll take a dog any day for my companion.
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